Wanna bet?
by America Singer-Granger
Summary: Lily Evans has always despised James Potter and Sirius Black. When Lily gets injured, the Marauders try to make her day of bedrest fun by making bets that lead to the fulfillment of some crazy dares. To her surprise, Lily finds she might just like spending time with James... She might just be in love with him.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Evans! Party. Common Room. Tomorrow night. I better see you there!"

"Because shouting across the potions classroom is a sure-fire way to gain my affection." Lily muttered under her breath sarcastically, "God! Why must James Potter be such a prat?"

"Oh come on Lily. He's captain of the quidditch team—"

"Alice, I don't care about quidditch."

"You're head girl… He's head boy…" Alice said, suggestively elbowing Lily as they put Slughorn's assignments into their bags.

"How he somehow managed to work his way into _that_ position will forever astound me."

"Oh come _on_ , Lily. He's gotta to be the second hottest seventh year."

"Frank's the first, I presume."

"You know me so well!" Alice said with a wink. She then skipped out of the classroom to meet Frank who was waiting outside the door. He immediately wrapped his arm around her as they kissed.

Laughing to herself, Lily grabbed her bag and went to leave the classroom, but the door was suddenly blocked by another student. A certain student. One with dark, messy hair and round glasses. He also just so happened to be the Gryffindor Lily despised the most… just before Sirius Black (Okay, Lily supposed Sirius _could_ be funny at times but most of his jokes were about sex and were at Lily's expense).

"Potter, move out of the way."

"What's the rush, Evans? The library doesn't close for a few more hours. You'll have plenty of time to get all of that studying in."

It was annoying how he somehow knew she was going to the library. "Potter, you are such an imbecile. Move out of the way." Lily reached for her wand. She wasn't in the mood to deal with him today.

"Lily Evans!? Head Girl!? Threatening to use her wand on the Head Boy who is simply trying to make polite conversation!?—"

"There is nothing polite about this conversation."

"—Oh I can see the headline now! _Head Girl of the Gryffindor House, Destined for Greatness (Maybe Even Set to Become the First Minstress of Magic), Uses Unforgivable Curse on Head Boy Simply Because She Cannot Take a Joke_."

"That's a really long headline. The prophet would never print it."

"Oh, but Rita Skeeter wrote it. So it needs a long headline to truly capture the bravado and immense drama of the article."

"Whatever you say, Potter." James had leaned to the left side of the door and started to ruffle his hair (he always annoyingly tried to make his hair look messy, as if he had just walked off the quidditch field). Lily saw an opportunity and she went for it. She dashed forwards to make it out of the classroom, but, being her clumsy self, she tripped over James' foot, which was still partially blocking the exit, and fell flat on her face.

Lily was just glad that she decided against wearing a skirt today. She couldn't begin to imagine the jokes that would occur if that were the case and her skirt had flown up as she had fallen.

"Nice going, Potter!" Lily's anger only increased when she heard Sirius' voice.

"Nice going, Prongs! You finally got Evans to fall head over heels for you!"

"Shut up, Sirius." Lily then stood up to scold James, "You are always goofing off, you know. You just can't take _anything_ serious!"

"Hey, he loves me! He takes a _lot_ of Sirius time. We sometimes even snuggle at night."

" _Black_! _Shut up_!" Lily snarled at Sirius and then turned back to James.

"You somehow bribed a teacher into letting you be Head Boy— and to this day I don't understand how that happened, being that McGonegall is the Head of House… You don't bother to study! You have those parties and get drunk and confuse the first years and you leave the common room a _complete_ mess for me to clean and you _always_ say you'll help with clean up at the next party, but then you're hung over and can't!"

"Umm… Evans?"

"Do _not_ interrupt me! You're on _very_ thin ice, Potter! I _know_ it was the four of you who hung all of the seventh year girls' underwear on the ceiling of the common room— and I _am_ going to figure out how you keep getting into our dorms!"

"Damn… She's hot when she's angry"

"SIRIUS BLACK! Could you just stop being such an ignorant, loud-mouthed, miscreant for ten minutes? I know it's awfully difficult for you to count that high, but if you go sit somewhere and try really hard, you may count to ten by the time ten minutes is up."

"Evans, I know you don't want to be interrupted, but—"

"Potter! Now is not the time for one of your jokes! I've had it—"

"Evans, your nose is broken."

"What?"

"Your nose. That thing that pokes out of your face between those pretty green eyes of yours. It looks pretty broken."

Lily put her hand to her face and when she looked at her fingers, they were covered in blood.

"Bloody hell!"

"Get it, _bloody_ hell!" Sirius laughed to James.

"I have to study! McGonegall's test is in less than a month and I've barely started preparing! This will put me _so_ behind in my schedule if I go to Madame Pompfrey. I bet I could fix it myself. Potter, where's my wand?"

"It's wherever you left it Evans. I like you and all, but I don't watch you _that_ closely"

"Yeah, right Prongs." Sirius said laughing and rolling his eyes, "What about last week in the common room when she was brushing her hair, you're eyes seemed pretty glued to her—"

James tackled Sirius and covered his mouth with his hand before he could say more. The two guys laid there for a second working out some deal to appease both of them and keep all their secrets.

Lily was annoyed about Sirius's comment and called James a creep, but her mind went immediately to her study schedule and the best way to make up for any time that may be lost from getting her nose fixed. Lily wanted her nose to be properly mended, and she doubted that it would be possible for her to properly cast a spell when she was this angry with James and Sirius.

Looking down on the two boys that were still laying on the ground, talking in low voices, Lily said, "Okay, I'm going to go to Madam Pompfrey's, but you two should feel free to stay snuggled up on the ground— especially if you sleep in the same bed at night anyways. Might as well get a nap during the day."

Lily started to make her way up the stairs but only got to the fifth step before she slipped. Majorly slipped. Lily fell down the five steps she had climbed and hit the ground hard. She knew that this wasn't one of her clumsy, "Lily" falls. She was actually hurt. James noticed the change of spirit, too.

"Evans? You okay?" He was actually talking in a serious voice for once.

"My stupid leg. My stupid, stupid leg broke because of the stupid stairs because I was going to the stupid infirmary because stupid you had to be stupid."

"Seven times. I bet I could beat that." Sirius cleared his throat, "The stupid guy that stupidly broke your stupid leg will now stupidly take you to the stupid infirmary to stupidly get your stupid leg fixed by the stupid nurse."

"Sirius, 'stupidly' is an adverb, different from the adjective 'stupid,' so it doesn't count." Lily knew she was being too stubborn for her own good, but she couldn't resist correcting him when he was being so annoying. She was going to have to find a way to get to the infirmary without causing further damage to her leg. Or her nose. God, how had she managed to hurt herself so badly in less than 10 minutes?

"C'mon, Evans." James reached down and scooped Lily up in his arms, being extra careful not to hurt her leg. Carrying her, he turned to the stairs and began to climb them. Unlike Lily, he walked steadily and didn't seem likely to fall.

"I swear to God, Potter, if you try to make a move on me or turn this into one of your romantic endeavors, you will need more than a wand to fix what I'll do to you."

"Interesting threat for someone who can't even walk."

"Just… Don't drop me… Please."

"Well, since you said please." James smiled and he carried her up the stairs to the infirmary, Lily's arms wrapped around his neck as they went.

—

"Oh goodness, dear! How did you get so hurt? You didn't go into the forest did, you? There are all kinds of vicious creatures out there!" Madame Pompfrey was shocked to see Lily Evans in her infirmary. She could only remember having to treat Lily once when she had a slight cold; Never had Lily been seriously injured.

The shock to see an injured Lily was overshadowed by the fact that James Potter was carrying her! That girl was one of the sweetest students at Hogwarts, but she absolutely despised Potter! It was odd how they were the Heads of the Gryffindor house, yet they had such a complicated relationship.

"Sit her down on this bed, right her. Oh dear, I'll get some medicine."

"Madame Pompfrey, don't worry. I wasn't in the woods. I just slipped on the stairs and landed quite badly."

"Oh honey, don't worry. We'll get you all fixed up in no time."

—

Lily fell asleep in the infirmary bed after Madam Pomprfey had mended her legs and nose. She was quite comfortable despite the fact that her leg had been bent in a very painful, very gross way not too long before.

Lily, still in the hospital bed, woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of snoring. She turned on the bedside lamp to see who else had been injured and had to stay in the infirmary.

When the lamp flickered on, Lily found that James Potter was asleep in a chair pulled up next to her bed.

"This boy sure is persistent." Lily mumbled to herself, annoyed that Potter was acting like she was his injured girlfriend, but also comforted by the idea of someone watching over her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Lily woke to someone stroking her hair. It wasn't an all together unpleasant feeling, but when she opened her eyes, she couldn't hate it more.

"What the bloody hell, Potter?"

"Someone's feisty this morning."

"What are you doing here?" Lily closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing.

"Madam Pompfrey said it was fine for me to stay the night." He leaned closer to Lily. "Between you and me, she seemed to like the idea. I'd even say she thinks we'd make a good couple."

"Well of course you'd say that, you prat!" Lily grabbed his shoulder and shoved James away. Lily started to try to get out of bed.

"Oh no you don't!" James said pushing her back into the bed.

"Potter, it's fine. I feel fine. Now I'm going back to the common room to study."

"No it's not fine. Madam Pompfrey said you had to spend one more night in the infirmary and then you'll be good to go."

"What the hell am I supposed to do for another 24 hours?"

"Language, Ms. Lily Evans!" James gasped sarcastically. "I would have expected more from the Head Girl!"

"Save it, Potter."

"And don't worry about being bored. I've sent for reinforcements."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily asked in a worried voice, which only made the smile on James' face widen.

"Padfoot, Wormtail, and Moony are coming to help entertain you."

Lily groaned. The only good part about this news was that Remus would be coming to visit. He and Lily had gotten to know each other quite well. Through studying with each other, they learned that they quite liked the other's company.

"Please, Potter, just leave. I don't see why Black coming would help make things any better."

"Well, it's not _just_ Black coming— oh, no— it's the whole Marauders gang! Get ready for the best day of your life!"

"Yeah, right! Maybe it'll be the best day of _your_ life. I won't be able to run away, so you'll be able to bug me all day long."

"No it won't."

"No _what_ won't? Speak clearly, Potter."

"No it won't be the best day of my life."

"Mind if I ask what exactly _was_ the best day of your life?"

"Wow, someone is very interested in me today."

"Humor me." Lily said rolling her eyes.

"The day you say yes."

"Yes to what? You really do need to work on your communication skills."

"The day you say yes and agree to go out with me."

Lily started to laugh. "That hasn't happened, Potter. And I don't see it happening."

"It'll happen. Trust me." James' voice was serious when he responded. This stopped Lily's laughter. He genuinely seemed to mean that the day she became his girlfriend would be the best day of his life. All this time she had dismissed his spouts of affection towards her as a combination of teenage hormones and Sirius Black laughing at his failed attempts to win her over. Now she saw his persistent love in a different way. He was still annoying and should learn to take a hint, but it changed how Lily saw him when she realized that behind his Marauder-ness, he did actually seem to truly love her.

That's when a rose suddenly appeared out of thin air and landed on Lily's lap. Then a second one appeared. Then a third. Music began to play. Fast music. The song? _It's Raining Men_.

"Oh no!" Lily groaned. This had Sirius Black written all over it.

At that moment, Sirius Black came racing into the room singing and dancing to the song. He wasn't wearing a shirt and he couldn't have been more delighted about it.

"It's raining mennn! Hallelujahhhh! It's raining men!" Sirius belted out the song in a voice that was extremely off-key, but he didn't seem to notice at all. Sirius simply pranced around the room, shaking his shoulders and singing to the song. Lily couldn't help but smile.

Her grin _did_ fade, however, when the song began to close and Sirius pranced over the side of her bed and planted a big, wet kiss on her cheek.

Lily grunted in disgust and wiped off her face

"What the hell? What was that for?"

"No need to thank me, love." Sirius winked at her and licked his lips in a semi-seductive manner. This caused James to shake with laughter.

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning on it." Lily was controlling her anger better now. "How do you even know that song, anyways?"

"A muggle-born brought their MP3 player this year and played this song. When I heard it, I knew it was the one for me!"

"So, you heard the song and decided to come and dance topless for us and then kiss me?"

"Well, I didn't have a choice about the dancing and kissing, really. You see, I lost a bet."

"Who did you make a bet with?"

"Potter, of course. He's the only bloke I could lose too. Maybe I could lose to Moony or Wormtail— nah, who am I kidding." Sirius was laughing now.

"Potter why on earth would you make him do that?"

"Oh I didn't make him do anything!" James said defensibly, yet in a smug voice. "We made a bet and he lost, so he had to pay the price."

"Can someone just tell me what you bet already?"

"Remember when you broke your nose yesterday and Padfoot and I were talking after I tackled him for being a prat?" James looked proud to be able to announce that he had tackled Sirius. "Well, we made a bet. We've been making lots of bets these days. I bet that I could get you to let me carry you all the way to the infirmary. If I won, Sirius had to do this little number," James gestured to the half-naked Sirius. "and he also had to stop making the comments about me staring at you. If I lost, Sirius' comments would only get worse and I could say or do nothing about it for two weeks."

"That's a risky bet, Potter."

"Not really, considering I knew you'd jump at the chance to be carried by the one and only James Potter."

"Yeah, right. Keep dreaming, Potter."

"Well I won the bet, didn't I?" James smirked.

After Lily didn't respond, Lupin suggested that they start the day's activities. This only made Lily like him more. That was until Sirius announced what the plan for the day was: making bets with each other.

"Here's how it works. No money is involved. Like, at all because I'm broke and so is James." Sirius had put his shirt back on and started to speak as if he was delivering extremely important news. "The biggest, most important part of any bet is that you don't reveal the dare until both parties have agreed on the rewards.

"You have to decide on what each person gets as their reward if they win. For example, the loser could have to clean the winners section of the dorm for a month. Once this is agreed on, everyone involved in the bet has to take an oath that is enforced with a spell and a hand shake. This will force the losing party to carry out their end of the bet.

"After the oath is taken, the challenge is announced. This can be virtually anything unless it involves killing someone, any of the unforgivable curses, public nudity," Sirius leaned in closer to the circle of people listening, "and remember I said public, I didn't say anything about nudity within the players of the betting game." Sirius then winked at Lily.

"You're such a pig, Black!" Lily threw a pillow at him in disgust.

"Do you understand the rules, Evans?" James was laughing/

"Why are you asking me? It's not like I'm going to be playing!"

"I'm asking you because everyone else already knows the rules. And of course your playing, you can't just sit there and watch."

"I don't want to 'just sit there and watch'! I want to study! There really isn't much time until we have our NEWTs. You all should be studying, too."

"NEWTs, shmewts." Sirius mocked. "You're playing"

Lily turned her head and looked at Remus pleadingly. Remus simply shrugged, "You should play. It'll be fun! Besides, they can't make you do anything _too_ crazy, anyways. You don't have to agree to a bet in the first place. Although, if you decline too many James and Sirius will never stop bugging you about it and the dare will only be worse when you finally do accept."

Lily let out a defeated sigh. "Fine, let's play."

—

 **A/N:** I sincerely apologize if having the song _It's Raining Men_ make an appearance in a Harry Potter fanfic has made you question what has happened to this world of ours, but for some reason I couldn't resist adding it! I know that it was released after Lily and the Marauders were at Hogwarts and there's no reason for them to know about this song, but for some reason I just _had_ to include it. I hope it hasn't caused you to swear off ever reading any of my fanfics again! I pinky promise that I won't do it again!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** If you read chapter two before I updated it earlier this week, you may want to go back and reread the rules section at the end of the chapter. When I went to write chapter 3, I realized that Sirius's rules didn't make any sense (why would you agree to the bet unless you _knew_ you would do it?)… Sorry for any confusion! PM me if I'm being stupid and it still doesn't make sense or if you just want to take out any anger for me being such a ditz.

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS! PLEASE REVIEW!

Also, thanks to user _KGHWI_ for the sweet review! I love the Marauders and writing this story, so it means a lot to know other people like it too.

Last thing: I am going to _try_ (key word being try) to update this story every Saturday.

—

 **Chapter 3**

"Alright, Moony." Sirius had a devilish look on his face. "If I win, you can only eat dog food for a week." James snickered when he heard Sirius say this. "You win, I'll bring you whatever food you want, whenever you want it for a week."

Remus sat there for a minuted thinking. He seemed to be weighing over the pros and cons of the consequences. "Okay, I'll take the bet." Remus spoke anxiously, but in a way that made him seem adventurous, like he does this all the time… Which now that Lily thought about it, he probably did.

Sirius and Remus shook hands and took the oath. Sirius then announced then dare. "You have to dress up in a Halloween costume for the next 48 hours, never taking it off."

"But we have class tomorrow!" Remus protested.

"Fine by me if you want to lose the bet!"

Remus sighed, knowing that he would have to complete this dare. It wasn't _that_ bad after all. "Do I get to pick the costume?"

"Did I not mention that?" Sirius replied mischievously. "You will be wearing a werewolf costume." Sirius and James howled in laughter. Remus rolled his eyes. Even Peter smiled a little.

Lily sat there confused and clueless. "Why is that so funny?"

The laughter slowly faded away and the expression that was on Sirius's face made Lily realizing that she was definitely missing something. This wasn't just any Marauder joke, there was as genuine secret behind it. For a second, Lily didn't want to know what it was because that would be like she was joining the Marauders, and she _definitely_ didn't want to get that close to James. But then she realized that this secret seemed to affect Remus and he was one of her closest friends. Of course she wanted to know.

"C'mon guys, just tell me." Silence. "I'm good at keeping secrets… You don't have anything to worry about."

James chuckled once. "It's not gonna happen, Evans. Moony, you taking the bet or what?" James's smile returned to his face and Lily slumped back. She obviously wasn't going to get to know what all the laughter was about. Even though she knew it didn't really affect her, for some reason she felt a need to know what it was about. It was decided. Lily would play the game. _Really_ play it. If she got close enough with the group, then maybe they would tell her what was going on, after all.

"Yeah I'm in." Remus turned to Sirius. "Get ready, Padfoot. You're going to have a lot of work this week!"

"Wanna bet?" Sirius smirked and pulled out a ginormous, extremely fuzzy, obnoxious looking costume.

With a sigh, Remus took the costume and walked to the other room. He returned wearing the ugly clothes. "Let the games begin." Remus muttered.

—-

"Alright, Moony. Your turn to ask."

The four Marauders had each pulled up a chair around Lily's bed so now the five seventh-years were in a sort-of circle. Lily was anxiously anticipating her turn. She had a feeling, though, that Remus wouldn't make a bet with her.

"Lily…" Remus started. She thought wrong. Hopefully he would go easy on her, though.

"If you win, I'll give you my study notes that I made for McGonagall's test—"

"Ok, I'll take the bet." Lily quickly said.

"Evans, you're supposed to wait until he's completely explained the consequences." James was smiling.

"I'm way behind my study schedule. Especially since I'm spending the day stuck in here with you four." James was laughing now at Lily's response.

"Let me just finish." Remus smiled. Lily may be his best friend outside of the Marauders clan, but he had a ruthless, competitive side. Now that he knew that there was no way she was going to turn down the bet, he was going to make this good.

"If I win, you have to stay in boy's dorm for two nights." Lily stared at Remus in disbelief. "in the same bed as Sirius." Lily's jaw dropped. Sirius whooped and hollered with delight.

"Still wanna take the bet, Evans?" James was smirking now.

"Remus, how could you? What's gotten in to you?"

Remus was smiling. "Lily, the first thing you should learn about playing games with the Marauders is that you play to win. No mercy. It's one of Sirius's many rules."

"Don't worry, dear Lilian." Sirius was now leaning towards Lily and putting one arm around her shoulder.

Attempting to shove Sirius away without any success, Lily spoke. "My name is _not_ Lily. And I'm most certainly not your dear." Sirius finally leaned away, laughing.

"So, are you going to take the bet?" James wore a challenging smirk on his face. That alone was enough reason for Lily to justify taking the bet, despite the consequences if she were to lose.

With the look he gave her, Lily knew that James in no way expected her to say yes. He didn't even consider it an option. In his eyes, she was careful, quiet Lily who just sat around in the library all day. Well, maybe he didn't think of her as quiet, she _did_ seem to yell at James a lot.

The fact that James didn't think she would take the bet gave Lily what she needed to muster up the strength and announce: "I'll take the bet."

Sirius had a satisfied smirk.

Peter giggled in the background.

Remus laughed, very amused.

Lily was pleased with their reactions.

James's jaw fell open.

"No way, Evans!" Once James caught his breath, he joined in on the laughter. He was just as pleased and surprised as the rest. Lily was starting to second guess the decision, but it was too late now! The boys would never let her live it down if she chickened out. Lily and Remus took the oath.

"So what is the challenge?" Peter asked timidly.

"Lily Evans, your dare will take place tomorrow during third class." Oh no. Remus had only said a few words, but already Lily knew that she was regretting accepting the dare. Third class was transfiguration with McGonagall, arguably one of the strictest, most intimidating professors at Hogwarts.

Remus continued explaining the dare, "Get to Transfiguration early, before McGonagall gets there. Once the students arrive, call for attention and proceed to teach the class, I'm sure you'll know the curriculum well enough. In order to win the bet, you must stay standing in the front of the room for the entirety of the class period. When McGonagall tries to take over teaching the class, cut her off and continue to teach. If you don't stay up there for the whole class, then you lose the bet."

Lily groaned. The idea of standing in front of the Transfiguration class sounded horrible. The idea of being rude to Professor McGonagall sounded terrible. The idea of sleeping in the same bed as Sirius sounded horrible.

"Why do you guys like playing this game?" Lily moaned and covered her face with her hands.

"For one, we get bored a lot. There's also the fact that this school is way to dull and needs some excitement every now and then. Lastly, it's pretty damn fun."

"Thank you for the much needed explanation, Black." Lily said sarcastically.

"Black? Evans, don't call me Black, that name isn't something I'm proud of. Call me Sirius or Padfoot. Heck, call me Jack Ass for all I care, but you've got to stop calling me Black if this whole friendship thing is going to work out."

Lily was speechless. It was a well-known fact that the Black family was affiliated with dark magic, but he never seemed to acknowledge the fact or be bothered by it. Despite being annoying at times, Sirius seemed so different from prejudice that came with his family name, that Lily sometimes forgot the connotation of the name. She never would've expected that it would bother him. He had such a light-hearted spirit. It completely altered how she saw Sirius. Yes, he was still annoying and teased her way too often, but that was just him being a Marauder. Just him asking her to call him by his name made Lily realize just how hard it is for him to escape the darkness that comes with his family.

He also said they were friends. If you asked her yesterday if she wanted to be friends with Sirius Black, Lily would probably laugh in your face and walk away. But after seeing this other side to him, Lily realized that he might just be a good friend to have.

"Alright Sirius, want to take a bet?"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N** :I am so so SO sorry that I haven't updated in forever! I have had so much school work and it has been nuts! This story doesn't have very many followers, but it is my favorite to write, so I cannot express how thankful I am for your sweet review _KGHWI_! It means so much to me that months later you still care about this story at all! ! I apologize in advance for the short chapter, but (hopefully) another update will be coming very soon. Thank you so much for the supportive reviews! It makes my day so PLEASE review! Happy (very) early Christmas!

—

 **Chapter 4**

"Okay Sirius," Lily was feeling rather smug. She knew she was going to win _this_ bet. Believe it or not, Lily had gotten to know Sirius Black pretty well over the last seven years and there was no way she was going to lose to him.

"If I win, you have to tell me how the four of you have managed to get into the girls' dorms, take our underwear, and use it to decorate the common room."

"Umm," Remus tapped Lily. "I would just like to say that it was two of us, not all four. I'll let you guess which two of us did it."

Lily turned and glared at Sirius and James, who both smiled smugly before continuing. "If _you_ win, then I'll kiss you."

"On the lips?" Sirius looked awestruck.

"On the lips." Lily nodded.

"With _tongue_?" Sirius inquired, more and more curious, now.

"Sure, with tongue." Lily hesitated.

"For… Let's say… 20 second?" Sirius was pushing the limit now, and he knew it.

"Sirius is it a deal or not?!"

"Do you agree to my conditions?"

"Sure. Lips, tongue, 20 seconds." Lily rattled the list off with a defeated urgency.

"Well, I have to say Evans, I didn't think you would agree to that— I'm impressed. But most unfortunately, I can't take this bet because I couldn't do that to Prongs."

Lily _had_ noticed that James had turned a pale, green color and seemed unable to breathe. Nevertheless, Lily just _had_ to know how they were getting into the dorms.

"C'mon, Sirius, a kiss isn't that big of a deal, just take the bet!"

"Not that big of a deal? Alright," Sirius was acting smug. He knew he had her now. "Then kiss Potter instead of me."

Now, Lily was the pale one who could hardly breathe.

There was a long pause. The four Marauders were smiling as Lily's expression turned into one of sheer horror.

She managed to get enough air to mutter "And if you lose you'll tell me how you always sneak into the girls dorms?"

"I sure will." Sirius was smirking and James couldn't contain his grin.

"Alright, Sirius, it's a deal."

The two sealed the deal with a handshake and now it was time for Lily to announce the challenge.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **A/N** : Hello wonderful readers! I am so grateful to anyone who is bothering to read this because I have done an exceedingly terrible job keeping up with this fanfiction. I absolutely ADORE this story and it's so much fun to write, but I've had a super busy summer and I didn't get around to updating as I had hoped.

I wanted to quickly thank everyone who has reviewed/favorited this story. It really warms my heart and makes me love writing it even more! A special thanks goes to _KGHWI_ who reviewed last week and just made me want to continue this story and made my day for caring about this story so long after I posted it.

Last thing (I promise)! I just want to say sorry for the spelling/grammar errors in this story. There doesn't seem to be _that_ many, but as I was rereading it, I noticed them and it's bugging me, so thank you all for sticking with it despite those problems.

 **Quick Recap (because I haven't updated in like a year):** Lily is injured and has to spend the day in the infirmary. James has so graciously decided to take it upon himself to entertain her throughout her day of bedrest. The marauders are now all bugging Lily and making bets with eachother. This is how it works: You say the consequences of what will happen if the person wins/loses the bet. If the person being asks decides to take the bet, then they make an oath and then the dare is announced.

Remus made a bet with Lily and she accepted, so once she's out of the infirmary she will have to try to spend an entire class period in the front of the room teaching instead of McGonagall. If she loses she will have to spend two nights sleeping in Sirius' bed. If she wins she gets to have Remus' study notes.

Since she took a bet, it is now Lily's turn to make a bet with someone. She chose Sirius. _I would recommend just going back and reading the last chapter if you forget it because it's very short and, in my totally unbiased opinion, it's pretty funny_.

"You, Sirius Black…" Lily allowed for a suspenseful pause. She almost started to laugh at how nervous Sirius looked. It was quite a feat to put Sirius on edge and Lily couldn't help but want to prolong this moment for as long as she could. "You are going to…" another pause. "Lose this bet." Sirius looked even more bewildered and James smiled at how worried his friend looked. He supposed that Sirius _did_ have fair reason to worry. If he lost this bet he would not only have to tell how they sneak into the girls' dorms every so often, but he would also cause James to lose what may be his only chance to kiss Lily.

"Okay Sirius. Are you ready to hear your dare?" Lily could've sworn she saw a droplet of sweat form at the top of his forehead.

"YES! Dear God, woman, would you just tell me what it is?!" Sirius shouted in a frantic voice. It seemed like the stress was physically hurting him.

"Alright, alright. I will now tell you the dare. The dare that your will never be able to complete. The dare that might just kill Sirius black. The dare—"

"SPIT IT OUT ALREADY!" Sirius yelled jumping out of his seat. Clearly, he can _not_ handle stress very well.

Lily grinned. "You cannot talk for the rest of the day until the sun goes down."

Sirius let out a snort and a short laugh and opened his mouth to speak before James leaped out of his chair and used both hands to cover Sirius' mouth. Sirius' eyes widened, realizing what he had almost just done. Within thirty seconds he had almost lost the bet. And this wasn't just _any_ bet, either. He wasn't just trying to win to prove his worth. He _needed_ to win for his best-mate. If he were to lose— well, Sirius didn't even want to think about how sad Prongs would be.

Lily still felt very confident that she would win the bet. This is Sirius Black, for crying out loud! He can barely make it thirty seconds without saying something, much less keep from talking if Lily gave him reason to say something. Lily _knew_ there was no way she would lose this bet. Even so, she could help but mentally curse Potter for helping Sirius not lose right away. Despite her confidence, there was still a little part of her that feared what would happen if she lost.

"That's kind of a lame dare." Peter said lamely, suddenly getting Lily's attention for the first time in a while.

"Very lame on the surface, yes." Remus said, "But the possibilities it opens up are endless. We can say or do _anything_ and Sirius can do nothing to yell at us! Actually, Wormtail, I'd say it's quite genius— especially considering the fact that Padfoot talks more than anyone else at this school."

Lily smiled after hearing Remus understand her train of thought and think so highly of it. He might not be the funniest one of the group, but he was definitely her favorite Marauder.

Lily looked up to find Sirius start walking out of the room.

"Sirius! Get back here!" He turned around to look at her. Even though he couldn't speak, it was easy to tell that he was mentally cursing her out right now.

"Well your attitude is just uncalled for! As Head Girl I may have to give you a detention. What do you have to say for yourself?" Lily chastised jokingly, eliciting laughter from the three of the Marauders that were free to make as much noise as they wanted.

Sirius turned to walk out of the room again.

"No, Sirius! You can't leave the room! How will we know if you broke the bet?"

Sirius slapped his forehead, clearly thinking Lily was very stupid. He looked over at Remus with pleading eyes, hoping that he would clear up what Lily was missing.

"Lily, you and Sirius made the oath and so if he breaks it, you will know. It's not like a piece of paper appears out of thin air, but you'll just know. It's like a thought just pops into your head." Remus explained patiently.

"Alright. You can go." Lily agreed. She was about to let him go without saying anything, but she remembered that she was supposed to be having fun with this bet."

"But don't take _too_ long." She mustered up the most seductive voice that a girl like Lily Evans could. "I'm waiting." She then winked and patted the open space on her bed.

Sirius turned red, but not out of embarrassment. It was as if there were actual words that were pressing in his brain, stuck and unable to come out of his mouth. He struggled with not being able to respond for a few seconds more before he turned and banged his head against the wall four times. He then quickly ran from the room.

Lily couldn't hear herself laugh because her voice was drowned out by the sound of the other three Marauders hooting and laughing, too. Lily hadn't laughed this long in a long time. It felt good. She hated that she liked spending time with the Marauders so much. It made her want to do this more often, and certainly nothing good could come from that.

"Evans, I don't think I have loved you more than I do in this moment." James was beaming. His smile wider than she had ever seen it. He was just so genuinely happy that Lily could hardly stand it. She hated herself for thinking about how she wouldn't mind kissing him right now. She wouldn't mind it at all.

James' face changed into a more serious, but still equally amused, expression as he noticed Lily's lingering stare. She quickly looked away when she realized the message she must be sending James right now. She could see out of the corner of her eye that James was about to say something to her, but luckily Sirius returned at that moment.

And everyone returned into their speechless states of laughter.

 **A/N:** Thanks you to everyone who read this! Also- I'm going to make a legitimate effort to update next week just so you guys know.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 **A/N:** Thank you so so much to everyone who kept reading this story! It means so much that so many of you are still wanting to read it even though I let so much time pass without updating! I'm actually so proud of myself for only letting like a week pass before another update haha. A BIG THANKS GO TO THOSE OF YOU WHO REVIEWED! IT MEANS THE WORLD TO ME! Thank you to _lojiosmom, fugacity, KGHWI,_ and _FirelightEnna_ who all reviewed chapter 5. 3

(Also sorry about the weird formatting of the last chapter between the author's note and the story… the line I made disappeared)

 _She could see out of the corner of her eye that James was about to say something to her, but luckily Sirius returned at that moment._

 _And everyone returned into their speechless states of laughter._

Sirius Black knew his strengths, and he knew his weaknesses. He knew the likelihood of him not being able to talk for an entire day. He didn't like his odds. He decided to give himself a better fighting chance, he would have to seal his mouth closed. It was against the rules to use magic, but that didn't mean he couldn't channel his muggle side for the day. He had gone through the assortment of medical supplies the nurse had and wrapped gauze, bandages, and medical tape around his head. A lot of it. So much practically his whole head was covered except for his eyes and nose.

"Padfoot, you are a God among men!" James praised, obviously pleased by the lengths his best mate was willing to go to try and win a bet that would allow James to kiss Lily.

Everyone was still hooting and hollering when Lily managed to say, "Sirius, you might be certifiably insane."

Sirius rolled his eyes at everyone in the room and angrily spun in a circle out of frustration. He had never been forced to be absolutely silent before. Sure, during exams talking was frowned upon, but that never stopped Prongs and him for saying a joke here and there.

Once the laughter quieted down, Remus spoke up. "You know, Prongs. It doesn't matter if we can hear you talk or not. Because the bet was sealed with an oath, all that matters is that you utter a word. You can easily do that even with your mouth closed. So really, the gauze is doing nothing more than not allowing us to hear you. If you _do_ break the bet it would be in vain because we wouldn't even hear what it is you said."

Lily looked at Sirius triumphantly. Even though he hadn't said anything yet, it would only be a matter of seconds. He just couldn't help himself when Remus, in the words of Sirius, "spoke nerd." In fact, since the beginning of seventh year he had a new catchphrase he would say every time Remus "spoke nerd." It wasn't a polite one, but that was precisely why Sirius enjoyed saying it so much.

He squirmed, dying to say the phrase. He was so incredibly uncomfortable not being able to shout it out.

"Oh just go ahead and say it, Sirius!" Lily shouted, spotting him in a moment of weakness. "You know you want to!" She teased.

"Merlin, if only I could remember what that catchphrase was, I would say it for you, Padfoot." Peter said. Lily couldn't tell if he was mocking Sirius or if he was being serious.

"Oh I remember!" Lily said, seizing this golden opportunity. "Isn't it ' _Remus, to you a dictionary I shall pass_ '?"

Remus burst out laughing, and so did James. James opened his mouth, presumably to correctly say the catchphrase. Before he could speak Remus leaped across the room, looking like an actually werewolf because of his fury costume, and covered James' mouth, clearly more entertained by Lily's tactics. There was something so enjoyable about watching the always cocky, always confident Sirius Black look uncomfortable.

"That's not quite right." Lily sighed, tapping her chin with one finger. Sirius returned to banging his head against the wall, which now made a more muted sound because of all of the bandages on his head.

"Oh I know!" Lily said. "It's ' _Remus please stick a dictionary up my ass'!_ "

"No, that's not it." Peter said, looking to the ground. He was genuinely confused. Of course he was. This was Peter Pettigrew. Lily didn't take this as a very good sign for Peter's mental health, being that Sirius says the phrase numerous times a day.

"Let me think…" Lily thought allowed.

Sirius continued to bang his head against the wall, harder now. James was still silenced by Remus, but struggling to get away more than ever now that he saw his mate was struggling.

Before Lily had the chance to continue to torture Sirius, Peter blurted out the phrase: "Remus you have a dictionary stuck up your ass! Aha! I knew it! Yes!" Peter closed his eyes and pounded his fists in the air, looking way to proud of his accomplishment.

Sirius sunk to the ground in a little ball and groaned, momentarily appeased. Remus sighed, sad that the fun was over, and released James, who immediately ran to Sirius' side.

"You can do it, man. Don't give up now. You've got this." The pep talk James gave now was more heart-felt than the one he gave before Quidditch matches, and, for James Potter, that was really saying something. "You can do this Sirius. He said, patting his best mate on the back and helping him stand up. "Look at me—Hey! Look at me… You. Can. Do. This. Only a few more hours."

Lily looked at her watch. She took a nervous gulp. James was right. There was only around three more hours of daylight left.

Sirius took a deep breath and removed the bandages from his head. He stood up with a newfound determination in his eyes.

Lily Evans was scared.

 **A/N:** Thank you for reading this chapter! PLEASE REVIEW! It helps me gauge interest in each chapter and which types of chapters you guys like best


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